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prepositon + plural time

One could argue that being able to front the following ‘indefinite’ time phrases shows evidence of a higher CEFR level. A search in iWeb corpus for: . _II _NNT2 , 1 . AT TIMES, 11672 C1 → C2 She still misses him at times,  but we all do. listen   Kit accused me of only being along for the ride  while at times  I wished he‘d fall in the river and drown,  so I could watch. At times, I actually like it. listen 2 . WITHIN …

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on the verge of

In the English Vocabulary Profile, be on the verge of sth/doing sth = C2 to be going to happen or to do something very soon Here are the top 20 collocations of ‘on the verge of’ in iWeb corpus: *Notice how negative the context is. 1 BEING 2334 Actually, you‘re on the verge of being suspended. listen 2 COLLAPSE …

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phrasal verb + clause ‘work out how you did it’

At C2 in the English Vocabulary Profile: work out = to understand something or to find the answer to something by thinking about it A search in NOW corpus for which ‘question words’ follow phrasal verbs: work out _*Q 1 WORK OUT HOW 12286 Just give us five minutes, Mr Poirot, and I‘m sure we‘ll be able to work out how you did it. listen 2 WORK OUT WHAT 11671 …

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WORLD (phrases)

In this post, we give examples of 7 different ways the noun ‘world‘ is used in English.  In the English Vocabulary Profile at A2: your world = your life and experiences A search in NOW corpus for: _APPGE world 1 OUR WORLD 67437 This may be literally our planet. 2 THEIR WORLD 33865 Note that ‘their’ …

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A LOT | MUCH (subject pronouns)

In the English Grammar Profile, C2 point 110 in the category of PRONOUNS/quantity is defined: ‘A LOT’ AND ‘MUCH’ as subject pronouns for focus In the English Vocabulary Profile, ‘much’ or ‘much OF-phrase’ in the subject position is listed at C1.  For example: Much of their stored carbon makes its way back to the atmosphere. TED A search in iWeb corpus for: …

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present simple (future)

Here are some examples of how the present simple tense is used in planning a future event that is also on a regular schedule or timetable.

Tell me about our date.
Well, how about dinner and this movie that BEGINS at 7 pm.
Tonight? I thought it IS on Saturday.

On the + contrary | other hand | one hand

B1 Point 4 in the category of discourse markers is defined: in writing ORGANISING – range of phrases to introduce contrasting statements. The English Grammar Profile uses two examples, both of which clash against the English Vocabulary Profile: *’on the (other|one) hand’.   ‘On the contrary’ We have accidentally double posted this topic.  The other page …

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(complex conjunctions) so long as | on condition that | in the event that

Here are examples of ‘so long as’ and ‘on condition that’ meaning ‘only if’: So long as they keep to themselves, it makes no difference to me. Listen   The house and grounds are left to the city of Gotham on condition that they never be demolished,  altered or otherwise interfered with. Listen Here’s an example of ‘in the event that’ meaning ‘should something happen’: I’m here to protect you in the event that someone tries to access your mind through your dreams. Listen The English Grammar Profile C2 Point 122 in CLAUSES/conditional is defined as: …

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VERB + ADVERB + PREPOSITION ‘go directly to’

B2 English Grammar Profile point 51 in the category of VERBS/prepositional is defined as: adverb between the verb and the preposition For example: George says the piston’s going to go right through the block any minute now. listen   Alex, maybe if everything goes well with the paintings, Victor and I will tour and we could visit you in New York. listen An iWeb search for _VV *ly_R _II 1 GO DIRECTLY TO 17903 We‘re gonna go directly to the airport and get a plane. listen 2 BASED SOLELY ON 13229 We can’t work based solely on rumour, can we? …

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phrasal verbs

There are 9 similar points across the English Grammar Profile in the category of VERBS covering phrasal verbs across the levels.  And the differentiation between the levels becomes difficult to interpret since it is more about the vocabulary.  For this reason, the English Vocabulary Profile is probably more beneficial even though the logic of what …

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BE + *ed + PREPOSITION

The word with an ‘-ed’ ending is usually a past particple.  The adjective exceptions such as ‘interested’,’involved’,’used to’ are rarer. 1 IS BASED (VVN) ON 327426 The system is based on the rules of a building. The Matrix Reloaded 2 BE (VBI) USED (VVN) FOR (IF) 273383 3 ARE (VBR) INTERESTED (JJ) IN (II) 192417 4 BE (VBI) USED (VVN) IN (II) …

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lexical verb + preposition

A search in iWeb corpus for: _VV _II sometimes catches past participles that might be considered adjectives. *doesn’t include ‘with’ and ‘for’ 1 BASED ON 2713989 2 KNOWN AS 1156665 This is what is known as a precautionary measure. listen 3 COMES TO 937726 4 COMPARED TO 832204 5 LOOKING AT 822174 6 GO TO 800246 (two verb forms) 7 GO …

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TO

The word ‘to’ is most often before an infinitive or it is a simple preposition.  A search in iWeb corpus for frequency data related to part of speech: 1 TO (TO) 240771826 infinitive marker _TO * * * * 1 TO BE ONE OF THE 87871 Everyone, this is our dear friend, Brian Bloom  who also happens to be one of the most talented young writers. listen to this C1 example …

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